UPS Fined $40 Million In Online Web Pharmacies Investigation

UPS will halt deliveries for illegal online pharmacies and pay $40 million to end a federal criminal probe into its shipping practices, the Justice Department said Friday.

Atlanta-based UPS agreed to create a compliance program to identify the rogue pharmacies and close their shipping accounts, cutting off at least one route for the pharmacies to get their products to consumers, FDA Criminal Investigations Director John Roth said.

"The FDA is hopeful that the positive actions taken by UPS in this case will send a message to other shipping firms to put public health and safety above profits," Roth said in a statement

Stock markets in the U.S. and Europe are closed today. UPS stock is listed at $85.90 a share.

The $40 million fine is the money UPS received in fees from the online drug dealers, the Justice Department said.

Some UPS employees had warned the company since 2003 that Internet pharmacies selling controlled substances without valid prescriptions were using UPS services to ship the illegal drugs, the Justice Department said in a press release. The pharmacies either sell the drugs without a valid prescription or allow customers to fill out a questionnaire with their medical complaint for an online "evaluation."

The Justice Department said UPS failed to close the shipping accounts of the Internet pharmacies.